Family Dinner and Set Up's
by LoveToRead404
Summary: It has been years since Maya and Josh have seen each other and even longer since they have actually talked. In fact, they make a special effort to avoid each other. However, when they are both tricked into coming to a family dinner not knowing that the other would also be attending, what will happen? Will they make up? Or will things between them be ruined forever?


_**Hey guys! I'm here with a very special One-Shot that I wrote as a birthday present for my good friend Angel1D98. I really hope it's good and you guys like it but, be warned, it has not been edited! So if I messed anything up, I do apologize however, this has already taken me a while to write and I didn't want Angel to have to wait any longer! So here it is! Please Read, Enjoy and Review! Until next time...**_

 _ **~evergirl2000**_

* * *

"C'mon Maya! Please!" Riley begged her blonde friend.

"No, Riles. I'm sorry but I can't! I don't have anyone to watch Peter while I'm gone and I can't leave him alone!" She protested.

" Then bring him with you! I mean, it's not like we're going to some adult club! It's a family dinner at my parents! Besides, they want you there, they specifically said so!"

" Ugh!" Maya groaned "Who's going to be there"

" Mom, Dad, me, Lucas, Augie and maybe Farkle...He's unsure if he'll be able to make it cause of work"

Maya laughed "I thought you said this was a family dinner"

" It is. I mean, maybe you and Farkle aren't related to me by blood but, you're still family. And of course, Lucas has to be there because he's my fiancé" Riley said with a big grin.

Maya groaned as she walked past her friend to get to the stove in her small apartment's kitchen.

"Is that a yes?" Riley asked, her grin spreading to an all out smile.

"Fine! But if _he's_ there and you didn't warn me, I'll kick your butt!"

" Maya, he hasn't been here in, like, four years. Why would he show up now?" Riley giggled.

Maya didn't like the sound of that small laugh. It sounded like Riley was hiding something from Maya. She had only a minute to contemplate it though before a little boy with black hair and bright, electric blue eyes came running through the front door.

"Mommy, mommy, mommy! Guess what we made in class today!" Maya's son, Peter, said excitedly.

" What?" she asked with a fond smile.

" We made..." He dragged out as he dug around in his back pack.

"Pumpkin drawings!" The five year old finally shouted as he handed the drawing over to his mother.

"It's beautiful! I will have to hang it on the fridge immediately!"

 _"C'mon Uncle Josh!"_ Augie begged over the phone.

 _"Augie, I can't. I mean, I'm really busy with everything at the law firm. I'm only in town for a couple days to meet with a client and then I have to leave again"_ Josh tried to explain.

 _" Uncle Josh, you can't avoid her forever."_

 _"I have no clue what you're talking about"_ Josh denied.

 _"You haven't talked to her, or even seen her, since she hooked up with that loser in high school! I'm telling you, you need to talk to her!"_ Augie told him.

There was silence for a few minutes before Augie said _"Just think about it"_ and hung up.

"So, is Maya coming?" Topanga questioned Riley as Cory and Augie sat down with them.

"Of course! I can't believe you are questioning my ability to persuade her! How could you mother?!" Riley joked.

"And Josh?" Topanga asked looking to Augie.

" I don't know. I'm trying but, you know how he is" Augie sighed.

"Well, at least _almost_ everything is going according to plan" Topanga smiled "That's better than how I originally thought this would go".

"Hey family" Josh said, his exhaustion showing in his voice as he walked through the Matthew's front door.

"You showed!" Augie shouted as he saw his uncle and walked over to hug him.

"Don't get too excited. I'm only staying for a few minutes" Josh told him as he collapsed onto the couch beside his older brother.

Riley walked over to her mother after watching the encounter and pulled her aside.

"This better work" Riley told her.

"Yeah, I know" Topanga said.

"It's like, I mean, he's not even the same person...Ever since Maya and that jerk from high school had that fling, the light that he used to have is...gone." Riley sadly commented.

Topanga pulled Riley into a hug, not knowing what else to do, before walking back to the kitchen.

A few minutes later, they heard a know at the front door and Augie, Riley, Topanga and Cory all shared small, knowing smiles before Riley went to open the door.

"Maya! Peter!" Riley shouted, taking little Peter into her arms.

Maya smiled as she heard her little boy giggle and laugh. She slowly walked into the room after Riley before freezing. There was no one else, only him, and suddenly she couldn't breathe.

"Maya! Peter!" Riley shouts.

Josh can barely contain his aggravation. She probably knew he was going to be here and brought a date just to get under his- . And then Josh saw the little boy Riley was carrying. He briefly wondered who the boy was but, when he looked into the boys eyes, there was no question. The boys eyes were exactly like Maya's. And then, as Josh turned, he saw her, Maya Heart, and his heart stopped.

All he could think was _'Oh no! What have I done?!'_. He had been stupid to think that seeing her again wouldn't affect him that much. He had been stupid to come. Wait Why had he come again?

But all thoughts were wiped away as Maya stepped closer and their eyes met. Suddenly, all he could see were flashbacks of a fiery, and fiercely beautiful girl in high school. He saw them sitting in the bay window at the lodge, talking. He saw them sitting in front of the fire place while he admitted his feelings to her. He saw all of it. And it was just too much. Before he could say anything he found himself turning around and pretty much running out of the room.

"Josh?" Cory tentatively asked as he entered his son's room to find his little brother sitting on Augie's bed.

"I can't do it Cor" Josh sighed. Cory sat beside him on the bed and the two sat in silence until Josh spoke again.

"When she was in high school and we went to that lodge, I agreed to play the long game. I didn't want her to be with anyone else. And when she agreed to date some other guy from her class... I tried not to get to jealous, I did, but I just couldn't stand to watch her be with him. I couldn't stand the way he used her!" By the time Josh finished, he was practically yelling. After a second, he took a breath and continued.

"Now she has a son? I mean, when did _that_ happen?! How could I not have known?! I practically told her I loved her and then, when she needed me most...I wasn't there." Josh whined.

Looking at his younger brother, Cory finally realized what was really going on here. Josh didn't hate Maya, he wasn't mad at her no, he was mad at himself for leaving her. Wow, he had not exactly expected that. For a second, he was tempted to yell for Topanga but he knew that wouldn't work.

Instead, he turned to his brother with complete seriousness. "Josh, you need to tell Maya all of this. Tell her how you feel because as of right now, she thinks that you hate her or something...You need to tell her"

After that, Cory got up and left leaving Josh to think about what he would do next.

Meanwhile in Riley's room, Maya was crying mess. Only a minute after Josh had fled the room, she had also ran...right to Riley's bay window.

"Shh" Riley whispered as she tried to comfort her friend.

Maya sat up from her previous position of laying on Riley's lap "This is all your fault you know," she sniffled " If you had just left me alone then, you and your family could be having a perfectly peaceful dinner right now".

Riley laughed " Yeah right, I mean we'd be having dinner but, it'd be far from peaceful. The whole time we'd be eating, Josh would be asking a million questions about you. It'd be pretty boring actually. So, don't feel bad, at least now things are getting interesting" Riley smiled at her friend.

"I'm so glad that my misery amuses you" Maya said, her voice practically dripping with sarcasm.

Riley laughed at her friend before pulling her into a hug.

"Mommy?" Josh heard a little boy call out.

He looked up and saw Maya's son, Peter, standing in the doorway looking at him. For the first time in a while, Josh felt a small pang of fear inside. What should he do? He didn't want to scare the child or be mean...So Josh plastered on a friendly smile. "Sorry, you're mommy isn't in here"

"Oh..." the boy trailed off looking a little lost as to what to do now.

" I can help you look for her if you like" Josh offered before pausing. He was trying to avoid Maya, why was he offering to help the little boy find her? He was pulled out of his thoughts, though, as the boy finally, slowly, stepped fully into the room carrying a box.

"No that's okay" the boy said before finding a place on the floor and opening the box. He started pulling out an old board for a game before carefully setting up the pieces and looking at Josh expectantly.

"Will you play with me?" he asked Josh, giving his best puppy dog eyes.

Josh finally caved and sat on the floor beside the boy.

"Maya, it's been an hour and my arm is asleep. I love you but, it's time to get up" Riley sternly told her friend. She had been trying to get Maya off of the window seat for thirty minutes now.

" I don't wanna" Her friend whined "This is my safe place"

"You mean, you're too scared to go out into the rest of the apartment for fear of running into Josh" Riley amusedly guessed.

"Precisely" Maya said before burying head into the pillows again. A few minutes later however, Riley got her wish and Maya was getting up. As they walked to the kitchen though, Maya realized that she had no idea where her son was.

"Hey Riles, do you know where Peter went?" she questioned the brunet.

When Riley shook her head, Maya bolted down the stairs to question the other's. However, she got the same response from them. Soon, everyone was looking for little Peter. Maya and Riley were searching the rooms upstairs while the others covered downstairs.

When Maya got to Augie's room, she stopped dead in her tracks. The door was cracked and as she looked inside, she saw none other than Joshua Matthews and her little Peter playing a board game. She couldn't quite hear what they were saying but when she heard her little boy laugh, she knew that everything was okay. Gathering her courage, she pushed the door fully open and walked in.

Josh looked up at the creaking sound of the door and froze...He really had to stop doing that whenever he saw her. But as Maya saw him staring and blushed, he couldn't help but inwardly smirk. So he did still have an effect on her, that was good to know. Now he just needed to talk to her and fix this mess that he had created between them. " Hey Pete, you think you could give me a minute with your mom?"

The boy didn't say a word, just silently gathered up the game pieces and left. Maya watched him leave before turning back to Josh. He recognized the steel look in her eyes and knew that she had her guard up. Taking a deep breath, he started talking before his courage left him.

"Maya, I'm really sorry. For a lot of things...I'm mostly sorry for leaving though, I know how much I hurt you when I did th-" he didn't even get to finish before Maya lost it.

"No! You do not get to say that 'You know how much you hurt me'! You have no idea! I trusted that you would always be there for me and the one time I agree to see someone else, who I wasn't even serious about until you left mind you, you started avoiding me and then eventually just left all together! So no, you don't get to say that!" She yelled while steadily jamming her finger into his chest, making him stumble back until he hit the wall.

At first, he was just stunned but as he looked into her eyes and saw all of her unshed tears, he finally understood that words wouldn't be enough to fix this. He would have to prove his love to her if he wanted even a chance with her.

But as he stood there trapped against the wall with her finger digging into his chest, he could still feel the electricity between them, the pull. And as their eyes locked, all his thoughts left to who knows where. All he could think of was kissing her and holding her and...Being with her. He was shocked though, when he suddenly felt her lips connect with his. It only took a moment before he was kissing back. Everything around them faded and all he could focus on was her and the passion and love he had for her. As he slid his arms around her waist, he quickly turned them so that she was the one pressed against the wall. He had no idea where this was going but as long as he could keep her this close to him and as long as he could kissing her, he was okay with whatever. Of course, the moment didn't last forever though as Cory walked in. When the two didn't stop though, Cory got mad. A little make out is fine but this was headed towards something else and he was _not_ fine with that!

"What the heck is going on here?!" he yelled, practically ripping Josh away from Maya and dragged him through the door. Maya quickly followed as they went into the living room where everyone was sitting and talking.

"You will never believe what I just caught these two doing!" Cory shouted, shoving Josh onto a couch a giving Maya a look that dared her to follow him.

"What were they doing darling" Topanga asked with a knowing grin on her face.

"T-They w-were" Cory stuttered trying to phrase it in a way that wouldn't affect the child in the room. After a moments though, the other caught on and began to laugh.

"Daddy" Riley said in her sweetest voice "I hate to break it to you but, that's kind of what couples do".

At that Maya and Josh both blushed. They weren't a couple, not exactly.

"But _they're_ not a couple!" Cory protested.

"You're right. That needs to be fixed." Josh stated "Maya will you be my girlfriend? "

Cory jaw dropped right along with Maya's as everyone else in the room looked at her expectantly. She hesitated, not knowing what to do. But when she looked over to Peter and saw him nodding his approval and encouragement, she knew that she wanted and needed to say yes.

The rest of the night went pretty smoothly, with everyone laughing and joking and talking. Just like families did. Well, almost everything went smoothly. Cory stilled watched Josh and Maya closely as they held hands and shared small kisses throughout the night.


End file.
